How To Survive A 7 Day Water Fast

Sounds crazy, I know.

Why on earth would you even think about doing a 7 day water fast?

Well, a couple of reasons. Number one, I was travelling a lot a couple of months ago.

Some for business, mostly for fun, and I definitely indulged more than I should’ve. I definitely put on a couple of pounds in the process.

Hey, life happens.

But on top of that, I developed some bad eating habits so I decided to nip it in the bud and do a full reset when it comes to my diet. So I thought to myself, I’ve always wanted to do a 7 day water fast. I think now’s the perfect time to do it.

Going into this, I already follow a high fat low carb diet, aka the Keto Diet. Which means that I’m already fat adapted. I also do intermittent fasting daily which means that my body is already used to fasting.

I’ve also dabbled with 48 hour fasts and 3 day water fasts before but never a full week without food so this is new territory for me.

My Mom on the other hand has never done a 7 day water fast before. Let alone any form of intermittent fasting. I jokingly asked if she wanted to do it with me a few days before I started and she said yes and you’re gonna see her mind blowing results.

Based on my research, there’s a few notable things that happens to your body when you do a 7 day water fast.

Benefits of doing a 7 day water fast

• Reduces insulin resistance
• Reduces inflammation
• Improves your gut health
• Improves blood pressure, triglycerides, and cholesterol levels
• Boosts your metabolism
• Increases human growth hormone levels
• Delays aging, extend longevity, and could even help with cancer prevention.
• And last but not the least, you lose a lot of body fat because that’s what your body is gonna be using for energy when you do an extended fast like this.

The way I see it, there’s virtually zero downside to doing a 7 day fast other than the discomfort of not being able to eat when you’re supposed to. So that’s gonna be the biggest challenge.

Is it safe to do a 7 day water fast?

Is this safe? And the short answer is, yes. Your body is well designed to go without food for short periods of time.

The longest recorded fast is 382 days by the way and the guy lost 276 pounds in the process.

Heck, even Jesus fasted for 40 days, so a 7 day fast is peanuts compared to those examples. But hey, I’m not a doctor so make sure you consult with a medical professional before you try something like this if you’re not sure.

If you’re pregnant, or you’re underweight, or if you’re taking blood sugar medication, if you’re chronically stressed, or you’re a teenager, or if you have any sort of medical condition, then you shouldn’t do it. Definitely do some research on your own before you try something like this.

The premise of a 7 day fast is pretty simple. You consume no food and no calories and just drink water for 7 days and let your body heal and work it’s magic. But we also supplemented with black coffee, home made bone broth, and sea salt. Those three things definitely helped during our 7 day fast and I’m gonna explain why in a minute here. Alright, let’s see what happened in this video.

7 day fast weight loss

Day 0 (The night before my 7 day water fast)

Picked up the home made bone broth that my Mom prepared. Oddly enough, I’m really excited to do this. I’m excited to eating nothing for the next 7 days and see how my body responds to it.

I’ve emptied out my fridge to resist all temptations. I also plan on keeping my regular workout schedule throughout the week. Wish me luck!

Day 1 – Monday

Nothing new here. I do a 24 hour fast once a week so my body is very well adapted to going a full day without food. My workout felt great and my energy levels were high.

It really started to hit me that my 7 day fast officially started when it came around dinner time and I was faced with the reality that all I could have for dinner was bone broth. I miss food.

Quick note on bone broth: It’s full of vitamins and minerals. It was definitely a life saver during this extended fast.

Day 2 – Tuesday

I had water with Himalayan sea salt for breakfast. 

I felt really cold and I didn’t sleep very well. It’s definitely a side effect of my body adjusting to this fast. I’m a little hungry but that’s expected. 

My workout felt great. I had tons of energy and felt strong the entire time. More bone broth for lunch and dinner. Based on my research, day 2 is the hardest day when you do a 7 day water fast.

Day 3 – Wednesday

I’m starting to get used to not eating. At this point, I’ve already used up all my glycogen stores and my body is starting to burn my own body fat for energy. I’m now in a state of “ketosis”. 

I also worked out for the third day in a row and felt completely fine. Kinda weird but not really.

Day 4 – Thursday

We’re at the halfway mark!

I feel as “normal” as one could possibly feel after going 4 days without food.

I don’t feel hungry anymore. Food is overrated.

Another thing that I learned from my research is that a yearly 7 day fast is extremely beneficial when it comes to cancer prevention. Have we known about the cure for cancer all this time but chose to ignore it?

Day 5 – Friday

Did some sprints and didn’t die. That’s a win at this point.

Not eating is the norm now. I legitimately don’t feel hungry anymore. What a weird feeling. 

I’ve lost 7 lbs at this point and I’m not a big guy to begin with. 

The human body is an amazing thing. It knows how to survive. I could easily extend this to a 10 day fast. 

Day 6 – Saturday

Day off at the gym.

I hosted a party and people brought treats. It was absolute torture but there’s no way I’m breaking this fast at this point. One more day!

Day 7 – Sunday

Final weigh in.

I lost almost 9 lbs! My mom surprisingly lost the same amount of weight.

7 day water fast before and after

That was quite the journey. And there’s definitely a few things that I learned.

I now know the true meaning of taking things one day at a time. Actually, one hour at a time, when I did this 7 day fast. This experience taught me how to really be present and not always use food as a form of entertainment or distraction.

I became free from structured eating and I’ve never been more productive in my life. Doing an extended fast like this was definitely 90% mental and 10% physical. It’s all in your head.

Another thing that I learned is this experience taught me the true meaning of commitment, determination, and being able to hold yourself accountable.

It would’ve been so easy to just say, “why am I doing this to myself” throughout these past seven days. You know what I mean? It would’ve been so much easier to just cave in and eat when I got hungry. But that would’ve just been short term gratification if I caved into those temptations. But I really wanted to prove to myself that this was something I could do. I wanted to put myself through voluntary hardship. And I definitely feel like a stronger person mentally after doing something like this.

Plus, my Mom was doing it with me and she’s counting on me to stay strong throughout this process. There was no way in hell I was gonna quit because I didn’t wanna let her down. I think she’s the real MVP in this whole experience because she jumped into it both feet with no hesitation and absolutely rose to the challenge and I’m so proud of her for doing that.

Would I do it again? Yes, I would. I definitely feel better about myself. I feel like I definitely achieved that hard reset with my diet that I was looking for. Losing almost 9 lbs is honestly just icing on the cake.

Listen, even if it’s just for the potential cancer prevention aspect of it, I think it would be worth it. My mom actually wants to do an even longer fast next time which is pretty wild but I think we can do it.

Moving forward, I’m just gonna go back to my daily intermittent fasting routine while eating a high fat, low carb diet. If you got all the way to this point of the video, I really hope my Mom and I inspired you if you’re thinking about doing a 7 day fast. Or even just a shorter fast in general. It can be done and you can feel good the entire time while you’re doing it if you arm yourself with the right tools. 

As always, if this was helpful, share it with a friend who could benefit from it as well!

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